[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 68 (Thursday, April 8, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Page 18655]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E4-782]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-369 and 50-370]
Duke Energy Corporation, McGuire Nuclear Station, Units 1 and 2;
Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering
issuance of an exemption from title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR) part 73, Appendix B, section I.B.b(1), ``Vision,''
for Renewed Facility Operating License Nos. NPF-9 and NPF-17, issued to
Duke Energy Corporation (the licensee), for operation of the McGuire
Nuclear Station, Units 1, and 2, (McGuire) located in Mecklenburg
County, North Carolina. Therefore, as required by 10 CFR 51.21, the NRC
is issuing this environmental assessment and finding of no significant
impact.
Environmental Assessment
Identification of the Proposed Action
The proposed action would grant an exemption from the requirements
of 10 CFR part 73, Appendix B, section I.B.b(1), ``Vision.'' The
proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's application dated
June 12, 2003, that is being withheld from public disclosure pursuant
to 10 CFR 2.390(a)(6). It is being withheld from public disclosure
because it contains information about an employee's personnel and
medical records, a disclosure of which would constitute a clearly
unwarranted invasion of privacy.
The NRC staff's Safety Evaluation will be issued along with the
exemption; it will be withheld from public disclosure because it also
contains information about an employee's personnel and medical records.
The Need for the Proposed Action
The proposed action is needed so that the licensee can institute
some specified action for a particular individual. Providing additional
information pertaining to the need for the proposed action would
require discussing information about the employee's personnel and
medical records. The NRC staff has determined that granting the
exemption will not jeopardize the health and safety of the public or
endanger security operations, and approval of the proposed exemption
not be inimical to the common defense and security or to the health and
safety of the public. The basis for this determination will be provided
in a Safety Evaluation that will be an enclosure to the exemption. This
Safety Evaluation will be withheld from public disclosure because it
contains information about an employee's personnel and medical records.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
The NRC has completed its evaluation of the proposed action and
concludes that there are no environmental impacts.
The proposed action will not significantly increase the probability
or consequences of accidents, no changes are being made in the types of
effluents that may be released off-site, and there is no significant
increase in occupational or public radiation exposure. Therefore, there
are no significant radiological environmental impacts associated with
the proposed action.
With regard to potential nonradiological impacts, the proposed
action does not have a potential to affect any historic sites. It does
not affect nonradiological plant effluents and has no other
environmental impact. Therefore, there are no significant
nonradiological environmental impacts associated with the proposed
action.
Accordingly, the NRC concludes that there are no significant
environmental impacts associated with the proposed action.
Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action
As an alternative to the proposed action, the staff considered
denial of the proposed action (i.e., the ``no-action'' alternative).
Denial of the application would result in no change in current
environmental impacts. The environmental impacts of the proposed action
and the alternative action are similar.
Alternative Use of Resources
The action does not involve the use of any different resource than
those previously considered in NUREG-0063, ``Final Environmental
Statement Related to the Operation of William B. McGuire Nuclear
Station, Units 1 and 2,'' April 1976, and the Addendum to NUREG-0063
issued in January 1981; and in NUREG-1437, ``Generic Environmental
Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants, Supplement 8,
Regarding McGuire Nuclear Station, Units 1 and 2, Final Report,'' dated
December 2002.
Agencies and Persons Consulted
On March 29, 2004, the NRC staff consulted with the South Carolina
State official, Mr. Virgil Autry of the Department of Health and
Environmental Controls, regarding the environmental impact of the
proposed action. The State official had no comments.
Finding of No Significant Impact
On the basis of the environmental assessment, the NRC concludes
that the proposed action will not have a significant effect on the
quality of the human environment. Accordingly, the NRC has determined
not to prepare an environmental impact statement for the proposed
action.
Dated in Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of April, 2004.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Edwin M. Hackett,
Project Director, Project Directorate II, Division of Licensing Project
Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. E4-782 Filed 4-7-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P